Raiding Vietnam

Before she sets out on the trail of her father, Rebecca Ruschhas a race to run. The 11th Raid Gauloises, which begins onApril 27 outside Hanoi, will likely feature the usual sleeplessnights, Mao-like long marches through grueling terrain, andmyriad creature discomforts, including (sorry, Rebecca) leeches.However, competitors envisioning the Vietnam seen in war footageand depicted in Platoon will be disappointed--or relieved.Though event organizers won't divulge the precise route of the450-mile course, they say that water, not the country's infamousjungles, will be the predominant landscape. In addition tonavigating the Red River Delta and the Sea of China, the 50five-member teams will cover plenty of remote countryside innorthern Vietnam, where the absence of roads will force thefield to mountain-bike over rough paths carved by villagers andtrek through some of the region's many caves. Racers have 13days to be counted as finishers. They are free, of course, totake more time, though by doing so they run the risk of brushingup against Vietnam's famously ferocious monsoon season, whichbegins in mid-May.